Gerard & Jacques

Fumi Yoshinaga is fast becoming one of my favourite mangakas. Ever since I was enchanted by the hilarious Antique Bakery, I have been looking for others of Yoshinaga's work and Gerard & Jacques is currently the only other translated manga available from her.

And it doesn't disappoint. Gerard & Jacques is set in France at the time of the French Revolution where Jacques, a son of a count is sold into prostitution by his father. His first client is Gerard, a rich commoner who despises aristocrats - but Gerard is intrigued by the spirited and intelligent boy and decides to buy him free from his contract. Jacques is determined to make it on his own but by accident ends up getting a job as a house boy at Gerard's estate, and this is a start of a strange companionship.

Yoshinaga's artwork is simple but expressive. I really like her character design and especially they way she draws faces and emotions and the whole body language: her characters always seem so real. What I love most about her work though is the humour, expressed both through her art and writing. Jacques is a wonderful character, so determined and wilful and yet naive and vulnerable. Gerard seems self-assured and easygoing, but his background is in many ways just as tragic as Jacques'. The two men's interaction is incredibly funny: the way Gerard intellectually seduces Jacques with his library and conversation skills, and how Jacques wants to resist but can't help but to be drawn to him.

At the same time Yoshinaga deals with some heavy issues and this is not a happy-go-lucky BL manga. The story starts with Gerard and Jacques meeting at the brothel, and Gerard more or less rapes the boy - the boy wows never to forgive his assaulter but then the man responds in kind and buys him free which confuses Jacques even more. Although this remains as the only sexual encounter between the men, the tension remains. Jacques is stubborn and doesn't want to give in into his feelings towards Gerard, but Gerard's motives are not clear, he even rejects the boy when he thinks in the beginning that Gerard has hired him to be his personal prostitute.

First part ends when the story is just getting interesting, and I can honestly say that Gerard & Jacques is one of those rare BL manga that you really want to read primarily because of the story. I can't wait for the next part to come out, this series is truly a keeper.